Madam Chair, conservation of our wetlands and waterways is extremely important. I have been fortunate to work alongside members of the community who have been working on river restoration projects along with West River, for example, in Sheet Harbour, and along the St. Mary's River throughout the District of St. Mary's and elsewhere.
These are beautiful watersheds that could be enjoyed for recreation, and once had the ability to actually host sport fishing for Atlantic salmon. As a result of a number of factors over time, the sustainability of the salmon populations in these rivers has been severely diminished. Through the work of these associations, we have seen serious returns of salmon populations, in particular during the previous Parliament. Through the coastal restoration fund, a multi-million dollar investment saw each of these rivers have restoration work completed. I recently took a tour with some of the members of the St. Mary's River Association.
I am curious to hear the minister's thoughts as to whether these kinds of investments could one day see a return of a recreational salmon fishery on rivers on the Eastern Shore and the District of St. Mary's in my riding of Central Nova?